Naruto's New Year's Gift

Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage's office.

Fine snow drifted outside the window, covering Hokage Rock in a layer of pure white winter dress.

Indoors, the fire in the hearth crackled softly, bringing a trace of warmth.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind the broad desk with his brows tightly furrowed, carefully reading an intelligence scroll spread out before him.

The pipe in his hand had long since gone out, yet he still held it unconsciously at the corner of his mouth.

Kakashi, dressed in Anbu gear, stood quietly in front of the desk. He still had that slightly languid posture, but the right eye he revealed carried a hint of fatigue that was hard to detect.

After a long while, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly raised his head, moved his gaze away from the scroll, and looked at Kakashi. His voice had the hoarseness unique to an old man, yet it also contained the dignity of the Hokage. "Kakashi, did the mission to infiltrate the Land of Stars go smoothly this time? Did you run into any unexpected situations?"

Kakashi pondered briefly, then answered in that tone of his that sounded as if he had not woken up. "There were no particular encounters, Lord Hokage."

"I disguised myself as a traveling merchant and slipped into a temporary caravan moving between the Land of Birds and the Land of Stars. I passed the border inspection smoothly. However, to avoid alerting the enemy, I did not go deep into the Land of Stars' interior. I only operated in a few towns near the border, and even when I saw patrolling Hoshinin, I avoided them from a distance. After gathering some public intelligence and books, I withdrew according to the original plan."

He had concealed a few things.

For example, in the border towns, he